It was in a small gym in Texas, a fairly empty one, where Jack Perri saw the future of LIU basketball — even if he didn’t know it.

Perri, then an assistant, remembers smiling after seeing Jason Brickman for the first time, an under-recruited, 5-foot-10 guard with the talent to bring out his teammates’ talents.

“I remember looking around and there weren’t a lot of coaches watching what I was watching,” said Perri, now LIU’s head coach. “It was immediate. We knew this was our guy. Every game, it was like, ‘Who’s in the gym? Who are we going to have to compete with to get this kid?’ ”

The school, which hadn’t yet been rebranded as LIU Brooklyn, hardly had a reputation outside the city limits, but Brickman, a San Antonio native, didn’t have many options, other than Stephen F. Austin.

So, the soft-spoken point guard listened to a vision for a team that hadn’t made the NCAA Tournament since 1997, a team he originally believed played on Long Island, a team he has helped lead to three straight Northeast Conference championships.

“I thought he’d be really good and have a chance to be an all-NEC player, but this good? I don’t think anybody could have seen that,” said Perri, whose team opens their season on Saturday against St. Peter’s at Barclays Center.

With little TV exposure, Brickman has spent his college career similarly under the radar, his uncanny vision seen by so few eyes, despite leading the nation in assists last season.

He is 86 assists away from becoming the conference’s all-time leader and 281 shy of becoming the fourth player in NCAA history to record 1,000 assists. Last season, he totaled 290.

“I have one of, if not the best, point guard in the country. He’s my Peyton Manning,” Perri said. “He is so focused every single day. He cares only about the team. It’s never about himself. He’s a machine. He’s my quarterback.”

Brickman, who shot a conference-best 46.1 percent on 3-pointers last season, has developed so much offensively, but it’s his ability to never change in big situations that make him so difficult to defend.

“He’s just different. He just knows where guys are going to be and he’ll find them,” said Wagner guard Kenneth Ortiz, the NEC’s two-time defensive player of the year. “You can’t really rattle him. I rattle a lot of guards, but he’s always composed. He won’t speed it up. He just plays the game and runs his offense.”

Running the team’s high-flying offense will be harder than ever for Brickman, with the departures of Jamal Olasewere and C.J. Garner. Julian Boyd, the 2011-12 conference player of the year, was granted an extra year of eligibility after tearing his ACL last season, but he re-tore it this summer and is tentatively slated to return in January.

Brickman said he knows another title will be harder than ever, but even tougher for the 21-year-old — whose reluctance to speak and whose reputation of answering questions quickly and quietly is a long-running joke — can no longer just lead by example.

“It’s a big difference, a different role for me,” Brickman said. “It’s kind of tough. I’m not used to being the vocal leader on the court, but Coach Perri wants me to really talk to these guys and be vocal. It’s tough, but I’m getting used to it.”

The school has gotten used to such dependability at the point. But it shouldn’t. It may never see someone like him again.

“The last two years recruiting, we’ve been trying to find that and it’s impossible,” Perri said. “Looking around for guys that have even close to his vision or close to his ability, it’s not there. I will never see another Jason Brickman as long as I coach. I would be shocked if I did.”

Games of the week

Saturday, 2 p.m., Manhattan at La Salle

Most of the Explorers who reached the Sweet 16 last season return to take on a team with the same hopes of pulling big-time upsets in March. This might be the Jaspers’ toughest game all season, but the MAAC favorite’s talented frontcourt and deep bench could be enough for an upset.

Tuesday, 6 p.m., LIU Brooklyn at Indiana

LIU sophomore forward E.J. Reed could break out as a star for the three-time defending NEC champions, but this is a game it could really use Julian Boyd, out until January with a torn ACL. Though the Hoosiers lost Cody Zeller and Victor Oladipo, a solid recruiting class could elevate Tom Crean’s team back into the Top 25.

Friday, 6 p.m., Wagner at St. John’s

In a meeting of teams that could represent their boroughs in the NCAA Tournament, Wagner’s deep and athletic group could make this game closer than it looks on paper. The matchup to watch will be Red Storm freshman point guard Rysheed Jordan against Kenneth Ortiz, the NEC’s two-time defensive player of the year.